Into the Storm

I am writing from the – for now – safe haven of New York City. But my mother and my husband’s family are all in the affected areas of Hurricane Harvey, a storm already slated to to be the worst natural disaster in U.S. history. For those of us not in Texas, it’s hard to understand the scope, even when we see it on television or in pictures: the sheer enormity of the destruction. Only about 15% of the flood-affected had flood insurance; 185,149 homes were damaged or destroyed, and at least 22% of those folks already lived below the poverty line. (For more information, see: http://abcnews.go.com/US/hurricane-harvey-wreaks-historic-devastation-numbers/story?id=49529063 )

This post isn’t really about the destruction of Hurricane Harvey, as important as that is (and you can see the bottom of this post for suggestions on how to help). It’s about how the reality of the storm meets the feeling so many of us have had of living in tempest-toss’d days.

In the most recent UUWorld magazine, Pam Rumancik notes:

“I get it. It seems like it just doesn’t stop. Calls to stand up for racial justice. Calls to learn about yet another grisly killing. Calls out of a more comfortable reality into an increasingly incomprehensible world.

I have to admit that I feel a longing for a “simpler” time myself. A time when I showed up to church, heard a mildly inspiring sermon, sang familiar songs, and hung out with people who saw the world much like I did. It was comfortable. It helped me be a better person without demanding too much.” (“To Those Who Are Tired,” by Pam Rumancik – http://www.uuworld.org/articles/those-who-are-tired)

She goes on to talk deeply and well about to what our faith calls us, and I hope you will read what she has to say. In this space, I want to speak to how I believe we survive – even, sometimes, thrive – despite the storm.

I have to trust with C.S. Lewis that when you speak the truth, even if it has been said a hundred times, it will still be original…or at least, relevant. Unitarian Universalists do not invest their hopes in some other world, some other lifetime, some marvelous happily-ever-after. We are investors in the real, sailors of the present moment, and it is in one another we place our greatest trust. We are, in the main, hard workers, deeply committed to creating a better world, a world transformed by our care. How we pursue that goal matters greatly.

To survive the storms, we need to remember the basics: to eat, drink water, sleep, and stretch. To carefully, patiently, and compassionately love ourselves and the people we encounter, committing to honor their inherent worth and dignity.  To show up when and where we can. To laugh often, and maintain a spirit of humility so we can learn something new every day. And to engage in some spiritual practice, some regular endeavor that allows us to mature in spirit, and grow in compassion and wisdom.

Most of all, we need one another. I’ve been too often surprised that UUs, intelligent and committed, are often shockingly unkind to one another in community. Times of storm move us quickly to our default positions. If we are already careless and unkind in our relationships, we risk those behaviors intensifying and magnifying conflict. Yet these are times which also call out to the best in us. We are forgiving, concerned, eager to serve – and more profoundly aware of the connections which bind us.

We travel these storms together. Let us do it in a spirit of covenant and love.